Villanova Tiebreakers: Hampton Win and They’re In

Villanova Football wrapped up their CAA schedule last week with an overtime win over Stony Brook, ending that portion of their regular season on a seven game winning streak. They’ll wrap up their season at home against Sacred Heart on Saturday, Nov. 22, but that counts as part of the No. 7/No. 9 Wildcats‘ out-of-conference slate because the Pioneers are an independent team.

As such, Villanova no longer controls their own destiny in the pursuit of a share of the CAA Championship and an automatic bid to the FCS playoffs. The Wildcats likely don’t need to worry about missing the postseason on the strength of their top ten ranking, but an automatic bid carries a first round bye with it, a factor that could turn up crucial as they pursue a deep playoff run. Entering the final week of the season, the Wildcats hold a 7-1 conference record, putting them on the cusp of a three-way tie with the Monmouth Hawks (6-1 CAA) and the Rhode Island Rams (7-0 CAA). Should Rhode Island lose and Monmouth win, all three teams will receive a share of the CAA crown, but only one can receive the conference’s automatic playoff bid, forcing the use of tiebreakers.

Tiebreaking Scenarios

The first tiebreaker is head-to-head matchups. Villanova lost to Monmouth in September, but they received a huge break in that neither they nor the Hawks played the Rams this season. Head-to-head matchups only come into account if they all played each other, so determination falls to the next tiebreaker, record against common opponents. Monmouth lost to New Hampshire, who Villanova defeated, giving the Wildcats that tiebreaker. Rhode Island hasn’t yet lost to any CAA opponents, but their last game comes at home against Hampton (2-9, 0-7 CAA).

Villanova ran over the Pirates back in October, so if the Rams lose to the Pirates, as they’ll need to in order to bring about a three-way tie, the Wildcats will win the record against common opponents tiebreaker and the automatic playoff bid that comes with it.

It’s not likely, as the Pirates hold a pitiful -197 point differential this season, outscored by an average of nearly 18 points per game… but a chance remains.